Detection of hTERT mRNA in Colonic Brush Specimens as an Adjunct to Cytopathologic Diagnosis of Colonic Adenocarcinoma

Clinical usefulness of telomerase for the detection of colon cancer in ulcerative colitis patients

“…Telomerase activity is gradually activated during the course of carcinogenesis, 19 and its catalytic subunit, hTERT, has been shown to increase in late‐stage cancers and metastases 20,21 . Telomerase and hTERT have been detected in small tissue samples from patients with CRC, including exfoliated cancer cells in colonic washings 22 and colonic brush specimens of CRC 23 . These assays, however, used surgically resected, rather than in situ , specimens.…”

“…20,21 Telomerase and hTERT have been detected in small tissue samples from patients with CRC, including exfoliated cancer cells in colonic washings 22 and colonic brush specimens of CRC. 23 These assays, however, used surgically resected, rather than in situ, specimens. We wished to determine whether colonic washing fluids obtained during colonoscopy would be useful for the detection of CRC arising in UC patients.…”

Telomerase activity and expression of telomerase genes in squamous dysplasia and squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

“…Furthermore, telomerase activity has also been detected in a part of premalignant lesion tissues [16][17][18][19][20][21]. In addition, telomerase activity has also been detected in carcinoma cells from various cytological samples (lung carcinoma cells in bronchial washings [22], colorectal carcinoma cells in colonic luminal washings [23], bladder carcinoma cells in urine or bladder washings [24,25], squamous carcinoma cells in oral rinses [26], and breast carcinoma cells in FNAs [27]). Therefore, the detection of telomerase holds a promise as a diagnostic marker in the detection of carcinoma.…”